The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-03-11
Bishop OF Georgia.

ATLANTA, GA, 9Th February, 'S7.-The
Ri. Rev. John W."B:ckwith, D. D.-Rs,
Rev. and Dear Sir: Fo. your promptnesa
in officially accepting my remuneration CT
the'ministry OF the Protestant Episcopsl
church, and il officially notifying me Of
the acceptance, l bs2 to thank you. Aa
coon IS l con command the necessary time,
l shall take the liberty Of replying to that
par: Of your communication thss is' OF a
pG.soas! uaturo. Meantime, l an very
respectfully yours, J.. q. ARMSTRONG.
ATLANTA, Ga. February 2S:h, 1857
Tbs Right Rev. Ioha W. Bsckwith, DID.
Right ReY.pand Dear Sir: l embrace
the iiraI opportunity that l had OF replying
10 that part OF your communication OF the
cath instant, that WAS Of . personal nature,
l think tiiat l am capable Of properly
weighing the expressions OF kindly feeling
toward mo personally which you have
! written, and the athrmations which you
have made OF the hcneslyo Of the motives
By which You hive bsen irduscced in
your official dealings with ne since the
initiation Of the ,ccclesiastic proceedings in
my case. I believe that it would bs the
attehtation Of those who stood close to me
during those proceedings, and who have
stood clo3e to me eincs their termination,
that l have neve; uttered a word impucu.
ing those motives. With whatever clse
I may be charged I think I an not Justly
%char9eable with the hshh. OF speaking un-
kind words 'ot any oru' in his abaence;
| while ]. DO not forget. that it is xsitten,,
Thou shalt not speak evil Of the ruler OF
the peoplo,"I have been willing too, to
say for you, what1 am willing to hsve said
! for myself, ITO one's own Master one
aiandeth or fGlleth." In addition, I am well
aware Tint to the human 'oye that eau OBJ.
asrye only the externsl Of actions, their
ex.ernsls are not q waysthe infal!iblo ex-
p5nents Of the motives oil, the actors.
Motives may be kind while the actions
may DO both unjust end bareh. ! have
no disposition to recall unnecessarily the
scsnen OF suffering through which l have
passed, or to criminate auy one who par.
ticipated in officially ordering and direct.
ing those aceIes. And yet l cannot but
say thst while the motiveso Of auch partioi.
pants msy have been such ~ to approve
themselves to q sense Of justice, the actions
were not broadly characterized by that
charity that"thinkcth no evil" and with.
out which, ThouHh7 speaking with. the
tongues oil men and OF angels, we become
as sounding brass or q tinklins cymbal.''
While l could have neither the legal nor
tho moral right to expect that you,
yourself, Tor lEatance, would set aside
on my behalf what presented itself to
you az justice, yet surely tho relation
that you then sustained to me did warrant
me to think and feel that ! might have
received from you some Manifestations 'oi
kindpes2 and charity. During the suffer
irgs through which I passed a year ago
were you not still my "Rsv. Father h
God" And are not kindness and charity
among the esasntial attributes OF father.
hood? You andA1 know what meaning
there is in auph relation, Viewed in an ex.
cluslvely human aspect. We know tina,
in this aspect the term "iather" is not 8
mere name. We know that should the
child Of our love wander from tho right
path, it would DO long, long before We
should shut our door III the wanderers
face, OF withdraw from him our counse,
aud encouragement to return. Yet from
you, though my father" even in God
Ia have never, since long before my 60
|. called trial" received word Of counss
or encouragement from your lips
notwithstanding the fact that you,
official action proclaimed it as you,
deliberate Judgment that I wa
a wandering child Did l at all repel you
j p%aternal %adyances2 certainly was neye
conscious OF look, word, or net that coult
DO Justly! so Interpreted. ! should no
y have reverted to this sad past but for III,
fact that you say in yours, l"While m,
official duty: has demanded Of me actioi